I want to echo what people are saying about the lower teams in Arlington specifically. The quality of play is far above rec and ADP (both of which we did with our child before travel). At the early ages, Arlington’s low teams play in the top divisions of NCSL and the top teams play an age group up. There were something like 7 divisions of teams in NCSL below my child’s low Arlington team, so I can see why many posters equate low teams with money grabs and the play like rec soccer because my guess is that is what you see in some of those very low divisions? I’m not sure. I can say that our experiences on 5th team then 4th team were miles above rec and ADP - which feels like a gimme when you practice so much more.

We found ourselves in a weird place where our child was dominating rec and wanted more than ADP and have found “lower” Arlington travel to be a lot of fun and the parents to be chill.

I’ve lurked on these boards for a few years and there is a ton of emphasis on top teams, top clubs, college prospects. Some kids are a great fit for travel soccer without all of that - if they want to experience teamwork, challenges, fun, learning, and the feelings of success that can come with all of that - especially if they are a strong athlete between college prospects and rec players.

I don’t know about red offers (don’t expect one) but they did do some renaming in recent years. Maybe people are still equating red with the top teams when those are called Academy and Pre-Academy at the young ages now and red is 3rd team.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure about the boys side but for the girls side Red team offers went out weeks ago for U11, and U12 . Tryouts are basically for teams 4, 5 and 6. If you dont already have an offer today welcome to team 5 or 6

Yep can confirm this is true

This is true for U13 and up, because Red is RL now, but for U12 and below, this is NOT true on the girls side. We know several current Red team players and no one has received an offer.

U11 and U12 Red team invites have been out for awhile. If you didn't get one yet then welcome to the white team or lower

Arlington soccer is fascinating. It is comparable to society as a whole. Strive to get higher by stepping on those below you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure about the boys side but for the girls side Red team offers went out weeks ago for U11, and U12 . Tryouts are basically for teams 4, 5 and 6. If you dont already have an offer today welcome to team 5 or 6

Yep can confirm this is true

This is true for U13 and up, because Red is RL now, but for U12 and below, this is NOT true on the girls side. We know several current Red team players and no one has received an offer.

U11 and U12 Red team invites have been out for awhile. If you didn't get one yet then welcome to the white team or lower

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure about the boys side but for the girls side Red team offers went out weeks ago for U11, and U12 . Tryouts are basically for teams 4, 5 and 6. If you dont already have an offer today welcome to team 5 or 6

Yep can confirm this is true

This is true for U13 and up, because Red is RL now, but for U12 and below, this is NOT true on the girls side. We know several current Red team players and no one has received an offer.

They are lying to you. They received offers weeks ago. Ask them to be honest with you or ask the coach and see what happens. If you didnt already get one or they didn't they wont be on the red team next year

I think the lower teams are a great starting point or maybe that's where your kid stays and that's fine too. I know people say they are a money grab to support the highest team - but if your kid loves the sport and wants practice 2-3 times a week and do tournaments, then the lower teams are great.

I also think Arlington does a decent job of moving kids up from lower teams (yes, not from RL to NL as everyone talks about, but for NCSL teams) so if your kid is the best on the lower team, chances are they will go to a higher team next year.

Anonymous wrote:I’ve seen people say you don’t want to be on team 5 or 6. Can someone give me more details on why? How does the experience on the last team compare to ADP, for example?

The lower Arlington teams are a huge step up from ADP. Our daughter has also had an excellent experience on these teams - great coach, fun team, good and dedicated families. She has also moved up a team each year, so you are not stuck on these teams like people say.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure about the boys side but for the girls side Red team offers went out weeks ago for U11, and U12 . Tryouts are basically for teams 4, 5 and 6. If you dont already have an offer today welcome to team 5 or 6

Yep can confirm this is true

This is true for U13 and up, because Red is RL now, but for U12 and below, this is NOT true on the girls side. We know several current Red team players and no one has received an offer.

Anonymous wrote:I’ve seen people say you don’t want to be on team 5 or 6. Can someone give me more details on why? How does the experience on the last team compare to ADP, for example?

Following on PP, this isn’t meant to be a knock but if you’re just figuring out the tryout process at the end of April you might be exactly where you want to be and not know it. You’re dipping a toe in and learning and “team 5 or 6” may be fine for you. If you trust the club a bit and it turns out you have a good coach, good player but a crappy team, they’ll find a way to work with you.

Part of team formation at this age (u8-11/12) is simply avoiding angry calls and emails so to some extent the early arrivers get spots they’ll lose as the years go by. Don’t be scared off by a team name before you’ve given a club you otherwise were interested in a chance.

Anonymous wrote:Not sure about the boys side but for the girls side Red team offers went out weeks ago for U11, and U12 . Tryouts are basically for teams 4, 5 and 6. If you dont already have an offer today welcome to team 5 or 6

Yep can confirm this is true

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not OP. Are there any small clubs that are easy to make travel team for u12 boys? My son has only played rec and he just wants to play more soccer and get better. Our goal is not college.

Close to DC.

What do you consider close? Villareal will take anyone with a wallet.

Villarreal has some great coaches, Richard Cranium.

😳

Anonymous wrote:I’ve seen people say you don’t want to be on team 5 or 6. Can someone give me more details on why? How does the experience on the last team compare to ADP, for example?

If you have committed families and a great coach, then you are going to have a good year. I would also say being in actual travel, even team 5 or 6 will offer better development over just ADP as they practice more and play more games.

The problems start, and this is with any club, is the families start to skip out on practices, show up right before kickoff, they don't want to pay team fees for tournaments and sometimes the coach is not the best. You also have families who either just want to go back Rec and decided travel is not for them or want to move up team levels and grumble. -So, it is hard to get team unity.

You need a good coach and good team manager to have a good year. For a lot of families it's fine, but it can be tough.

It also depends what you are looking for. Some families want to move up teams, but no one on the team wants to do extra training or winter futsal for example. If you want to do multiple sports and not really worry about team levels, then the lower teams will be fine!

Anonymous wrote:I’ve seen people say you don’t want to be on team 5 or 6. Can someone give me more details on why? How does the experience on the last team compare to ADP, for example?

you're there to fund the club for scholarships to higher level players. You think any coach that really cares about coaching and developing kids is jumping at the chance to coach team 5 or 6? They'll get money out of you for a year or 2 and be done with most of the kids after that

I’ve seen people say you don’t want to be on team 5 or 6. Can someone give me more details on why? How does the experience on the last team compare to ADP, for example?

Anonymous wrote:Not sure about the boys side but for the girls side Red team offers went out weeks ago for U11, and U12 . Tryouts are basically for teams 4, 5 and 6. If you dont already have an offer today welcome to team 5 or 6

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not OP. Are there any small clubs that are easy to make travel team for u12 boys? My son has only played rec and he just wants to play more soccer and get better. Our goal is not college.

Close to DC.

What do you consider close? Villareal will take anyone with a wallet.

Villarreal has some great coaches, Richard Cranium.